IRS Wahala

So, I did get a job and it has been so stressful and I ain’t complaining but hell! IRS is driving me crazy.

While living in Nigeria, I never really bothered about identifying as American. Not because I didn’t want to, but because it wasn’t going to exactly help me with anything.

Oh sure I did get myself a job as a telemarketer once, using an accent I totally faked and it was fun while it lasted which wasn’t long and I didn’t earn up to $10,000 so I didn’t bother about reporting taxes. Plus I’m not aware of any tax agreement laws between the US and Nigeria.

Moving to Germany, I registered as both American and Nigerian even though my Nigerian passport is now expired (oh dear! I either need to renew it or always get a visa when visiting Nigeria!) And as Germany has all sorts of agreement with the USA, I’m obligated to report taxes before I can file in Germany.

Anyways, we all know how annoying the IRS is. They ignore you and then come for you when they are good and ready!!

To be honest, I didn’t think I was required to even report taxes to the US government since I was already paying taxes in Germany.

Then Liebhaber needed to report our taxes for 2016 and the German system requires that I report my taxes to the US government and that is where the wahala began!

I called the embassy asking how I could get it easily done but then I got told that it wasn’t possible to report taxes through the embassy anymore. I needed to call the IRS and get that done myself.

So, due to time difference, I had to stay up until 12 midnight to make the call. I called and I was transferred to several people. By the time I got to the extension I needed, the connection was extremely terrible.

I called over ten times, got the same treatment and crap connection each call. I was going mental at this point. Every day for a week I went through the same ritual and I just gave up. I remember getting someone and warning him not to dare hang up on me as I yelled and screamed over the phone, trying to get them to understand how important this was!(as if they didn’t already know). Tsk!!

Two weeks later I was able to get someone with a good phone connection no less and lawd was I mad. She asked me all these questions that were like rocket science and I could tell she too was frustrated and I didn’t understand it.

How the bloody hell can you make something so mandatory yet so difficult? It makes no sense to me but hey, that don’t change the price of puff puff in iya Sheri’s frying spot.

Liebhaber went on Reddit to find solutions that were much easier than what we were experiencing and everyone told him to pay some exorbitant amount of money to get it done by a professional.

To make matters worse, there is a time limit as to when you needed to be done reporting.

So we ended up buying a software to help us out. We bought it for about 35€ and I have to say, it was holy shit easier. Don’t get me wrong, it was still tasking, but it took off a whole lot of bonkers.

I got asked questions like when was the last time I visited the US and I got all teary eyed because I realized how much I missed my family. Staying home with my little niece while her older siblings were in school. Walking to the bus stop to watch them get off the bus. Driving to Walmart or Kroger’s, discovering discount pieces in Ross, eating Mexican like our lives depended on it and breezing through the malls with four kids in tow!

It was beautiful and I miss them badly.

Sadly, I made myself a promise that I wasn’t going to be spending my money visiting the US no matter how much I missed my family. I did not vote for the 45th and I do not stand with a man who in his attempt to “make America great” divides the country and inspires hate.

USA has become a shadow of its former self. A daft president who doesn’t know his ass from his orange head, a vice president who is an extreme Christian nut job. A secretary of education who is looking to legalize child labor… The list of political reasons as to why America will not be great is endless.

The Democratic party is silent, doing nothing I have heard about meanwhile when Obama was President, the Republicans frustrated him at every turn, making his job as President extremely difficult.

Everything good he did is being shut down by the new president and his goons all in the name of making America supposedly great again.

The Women’s March group is totally against the new president and at first I wasn’t with them. Why? Because they should have come out to protest with the black community when black people were being killed. It wasn’t their problem then right? Black people were just being troublesome hence the police shooting them.

A black kid wears a hoodie with hands in his pockets and he is deemed dangerous and gets a few bullets in him. A black woman questions the cop who pulls her over and she gets handcuffed and killed while in police custody.

But a caucasian male goes into a church and shoots people but he gets a bullet proof vest and a stop over lunch at MacDonald’s and you don’t see a pattern?

Now, a bunch of Caucasian women are crying because they don’t agree with the new presidency and they expect the whole of America to join them? Why?

Then I check out their Instagram page and I see solidarity. Is it late? Yes of course it is but it’s solidarity nonetheless.

We shouldn’t have to wait for something to happen to us personally before we show solidarity.

However, I do stand with them just as I stand with the black lives matter movement.

So anyways, we are done reporting taxes both for US and Germany. I just need to mail my report since well, the IRS don’t take scanned copies. Shocker!

Anyways, I owe the IRS nothing(hallelujah!) And that is totally magical! Do I understand why people don’t bother with taxes? Yes I do but it has to be done regardless. I don’t like prepping for the shower but I have to. We don’t want to be stinking up the place on the daily abi?!

It’s Sunday night, we are watching Prince of Persia auf Deutsch and annoying as that is for me who loves to see my movies in English, this is one of the best ways for me to learn the language.